The conventional apparatus reading sorting information provided on paper sheet matters such as postal matters to rearrange the loaded paper sheet matters in a sequence designated by the sorting information includes, for example, a paper sheet matter supplying/retrieving apparatus disclosed by JP-A-51-105897.
In this prior art, an accumulating section is provided in the vicinity of a supplying section, for example, just above the supplying section and the sorting is repeated by opening the bottom surface of the accumulating section to drop and transfer the accumulated paper sheet matters into the supplying section, so that the loaded paper sheet matters can be rearranged in a sequence designated by sorting information.
In the above-mentioned prior art, the amount of letters capable of being subjected to delivery sequence organization sorting is limited to an amount by which they can be accumulated in the accumulating section at once. For example, provided that the amount of handled letters with an average thickness of 1 mm per sheet is 2000 sheets, the total thickness of letters comes to 2 m.
In the supplying means, paper sheet matters can be supplied close together. Therefore, at least 2 m suffices for the length of the supplying means.
In many cases, the amounts of letters accumulated in the respective accumulating units are not equal since the amount is different depending upon designation addresses. Also, each accumulating unit needs any margin space for the thickness of letters which can be accumulated. For example, in order to accumulate letters up to the thickness of 80 mm, an accumulating unit needs a space of about 120 mm, that is, 1.5 times as large as the accumulation thickness. Accordingly, in order that letters corresponding to 2 m are accumulated uniformly or equally, the whole of accumulating units needs a space of 3 m in total.
Further, provided that letters are not accumulated equally, the accumulating section or the whole of accumulating units needs a space added with a proper margin or a space of, for example, 4 m, that is, two times as large as the length of the supplying section. Namely, there is a problem that a sorter provided with such an accumulating section has a large size in which the width is about 5 m.